She was barely fifty years old* when she took her first – a contract handed out in Everlook, though how she’d ended up in that godsforsaken ice-sheet she couldn’t be sure. It was a simple thing to kill the woman listed on the paper she had signed. Anryl had no idea what Telwae Lightsorrow had […]

Comments Off on One if by Air
Written by Anna on September 20, 2012 – 1:45 pm

News of the Kalimdor blockade broke over Stormwind like the tide. The first people to hear it spread the word, and the reports came in ever increasing waves. The boats were dry docked, flight paths were nonfunctional. Reagent vendors were running out of portal tokens as the substantial elven population tried to contact family in Darnassus. The worst reports were out of Feathermoon Stronghold. Rumors flew – they had wyverns, were taking out gryphons and hippogryphs, there was a mana bomb on one of the boats, they were firing incendiary missiles into the town.

Feathermoon. The one place in this whole stupid planet Angoleth could really say was home. And after what happened at Theramore? She grimaced and spat. Time to see if she could get back there and help protect the place. First step? Getting there.

Panicked travelers filled the Stormwind docks, but the boat was most definitely not running. In fact, things looked downright grim, as the dock master and her associates tried to keep people calm.

“No, the boats aren’t running. I’m sorry, ma’am, but if we depart today, there’s a good chance we’ll be sunk before we get to Lordanel. I know your son is there, but you’ll have to take a portal, or rely on other means of transport. The Alliance isn’t going to run a blockade for a shipment of Alterac Swiss, not even if you were Elling Trias himself.”

The excuses ran endlessly. Angoleth didn’t even try. After a few moments’ thought, she picked up her gryphon and set flight to Booty Bay, hoping that a little discretion would pay off. The goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel generally looked the other way, if you had the right goals in mind. She packed a large purse.

*****

Several hours later Booty Bay was bustling with travelers, the Cartel raking in cash on boat fares as they realized they were now THE major waterway into Kalimdor. The fees were exorbitant, but Angoleth didn’t argue. At least not until she noticed the huge, heavily armored orcs guarding the boat ramp.

“It’s for extra security’s sake, Lady. You don’t want to pay it, find a mage and buy a portal.” The goblin in front of her seemed impatient, looking at the line of potential travelers behind. To her right, the orcs were checking everyone’s traveling papers, one of them keeping a running list of people on the boat.

“Right, thanks, nevermind.”

The person behind her neatly shoved forward, and the elf lost her footing on the dock, regaining it as she wracked her brain for another, less trackable way to get to Kalimdor. Her eyes settled on the Gnomish Engineer’s Guild sign, high above Booty Bay’s main dock.

*****

“We can’t promise anything. Generally we only allow transport by interdimensional ripper to qualified and certified engineers, Madam Elf. I do not know what will happen if you attempt to travel to Gadgetzan from here, and you may not arrive in one piece.”

Angoleth growled at the gnome. “If I take the boat, I WILL not arrive in one piece. I’m willing to pay. You’re willing to send me through that… thing, with some reasonable assurance that I’ll end up in Tanaris, right?”

“Er… yes. Though you need to sign these contingency papers, in the event of adverse conditions in the twisting nether, and to prevent the possibility of damage litigation should you …”

“Give me the fucking papers and shut up.”

“Eep! Yes ma’am.” The gnome handed her a stack. “You’ll need to sign here, and here. Initial these four pages. Then sign here and date it, and print your name, and your next of kin.”

“… next of kin?”

“Yes. Just… in case of … ”

“Right.” Angoleth thought about it for a minute, wrote in Feliche Nightshade, and prayed wherever the hell Feliche was, he wouldn’t get bothered about this.

Fourteen and a half minutes later, having signed her name enough times to get an arm cramp, Engineer Cogwhistle started bustling around the odd machine in the corner, setting dials and talking to himself. “Two cranks on the technobob, set the whizmaster to Gadgetzan, size “Elf” on the dimensionater…”

“Oh, Hey Cogwhistle.”

“Do not interrupt me, I am assuring your safety in transport. Fractionation speed “Normal”… ” He rattled on for several minutes. “Yes Madam Elf, you had something you wanted?”

“Yeah. I want you to not tell anyone I was here. I’d like to make a large donation to the Engineer’s Guild of Booty Bay, but I’d like it to remain anonymous.”

He looked at the sack of gold on the table. Truth be told, it was less than the Goblin downstairs was charging for a boat fare, but she didn’t think he would know that. He didn’t. “Yes, Madam Elf, I think we can arrange for the suitable amount of discretion. Though I can not promise what will happen should you transport into Gadgetzan itself.”

“Can I transport just NORTH of Gadgetzan then?”

“Er… well…” She put another bag of gold on the table. “Yes, that location setting is available.”

“Oh, and you’re transporting my gryphon as well.”

****

The feeling of being ripped through interdimensional space was not a pleasant one. The feeling of being dropped from 10 feet above the sand dunes of Tanaris was even less so.

“Fuck.” Angoleth checked around her, making sure that she was all there. “Fuck!” She was, but her boots weren’t. “How the bloody nether do you transport someone through interdimensional space and lose their fucking boots?!”

About thirty seconds later, Rylin appeared, also ten feet above the sand. Unlike his elven master, he spread his big wings and gently flapped to the ground, seemingly unphased by his dimensional ripping. He pecked at her stockinged toes, and she aimed a kick at him in return. He simply ducked out of the way and chirruped at her.

“Right. You want to go on an adventure, you big feathery oaf. Well, it’s about to get fun.” She climbed on his broad back. “Let’s go run a blockade.”

*****

They flew low over the verdant Ferelas forest, staying just below the treeline and well off the paths. There were Horde here, and while she knew she could pick off a patrol from the air, if they were shooting down riders at Feathermoon, she didn’t want to risk it where a fall would mean a broken neck. Things seemed utterly still and quiet, the way that Ferelas always did. They set course well south of the docks to Feathermoon. “Hopefully the fuckers are just watching the main path.”

They weren’t.

As they broke tree-cover, Feathermoon Stronghold came into view. The entire fort was surrounded by Horde destroyers, all formed up around any possible exit point, and she suspected they were under cover in the forest as well. The air was filled with packs of wyvern riders, three to a formation as they looped around. “Fuck again.” Still, she knew she needed to get in and get to Shandris. Because it had been a long damn time since she’d had a job to do, and breaking a Horde blockade on her home seemed like a damn good place to start. Besides, if she could get in, there was a possibility that they could get out.

Night was falling around them, so there was a chance of some cover. She could barely make out the buildings of Feathermoon Stronghold, which was apparently under some kind of blackout at night. “Alright, featherhead. Let’s bust some orcs.” Rylin chirruped again and flexed his claws.

From well south of the Stronghold, they headed out to sea, making for the islands, and then turned back. She made it two-thirds of the way across the Feathermoon Straits without attracting any attention. From her vantage point, Angoleth made out that most of the boats were simply manned with heavy troops and canons. One was carrying something large and sat much lower in the water, but she couldn’t see anything specific from the air. Then, from the nearest boat, a shout rang out and a flare went up. Rylin wheeled away from the flare, the elf clinging low to his back, loosing her bow and carrying it against his wing. She’d hoped for the element of surprise, but now the orcs knew she was there, even in the dark. A pack of wyvern riders came out of the east, flying in formation, and from somewhere below a heavy artillery shot flew past them.

She whispered a prayer to the Moon that hung heavy in the sky above them, strung her bow, and fired.

The first wyvern took the hit in the wing, falling away to one side, the other two closing fast. Rylin dropped low and to the south, taking them back out of range of the boats, but the wyverns were flying fast. She banked hard, firing over her shoulder behind them, but missed.

A crossbow bolt came flying out of the darkness and embedded itself in her shoulder, the point blunted by the heavy mail, but not the force of impact. Angoleth scrambled for a solid hand hold on the gryphon, watching as another artillery shell flew past them in the sky and exploded somewhere behind them. Tightening her grip, she fired again, and this time hit the frontmost rider square in the chest. He plummeted, and his wyvern flew after him. She heard the splash below.

The last rider dove after Rylin, huge claws extended, and the two great flying beasts met in the air, riders hanging on and scrambling for close weapons. She knew she was outmatched in a knife fight, but Rylin couldn’t shake the wyvern. She drew a shortsword just as the tangle of claws, teeth, and wings lost enough aerodynamics to start freefalling.

Angoleth aimed a kick at the wyvern’s head, but without boots her foot mostly just glanced off its face. The orc laughed and said something guttural that she didn’t need to understand to get the basic gist of. She hacked out with the sword and caught the orc in the leg, just as the wyvern let go of Rylin in an attempt to keep itself from falling into the straight. The orc yelled, and she let the sword go for lost, drawing her bow to shoot again

Rylin scrambled for flight, reorienting himself and getting the wind back beneath his massive wings, only to shriek in pain and tumble sharply to the left, veering them back towards the boats. Angoleth scrambled to stay with him, only to feel, as if in slow motion, an artillery shell impact with the gryphon’s chest, and they both plummeted into the inky blackness of the sea.

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Anna is a 20-something gamer on the Feathermoon (US RP-PVE) Server in World of Warcraft. Here you'll find all kinds of
assorted things about WoW, including roleplay, raiding, and whatever else Anna feels like rambling about today. She's got a lot of alts, so you never know what you'll find!